Mexico’s early bolt action designs were very German in appearance and functionality as Mexico at the time was under the German Empire’s sphere of influence However after World War I and nearing World World II, Mexico drifted away from Germany and cozied up to the United States, a fact which would become apparent with subsequent rifle designs during and after the 1930’s. Guns firearms rifles bolt action weapons mauserįor decades Mexico had been a proud user of the Mauser rifle, importing Mauser actioned rifles from Germany during the Mexican Revolution, then producing their own indigenous designs based upon the famous Gewehr 98 rifle. . Back in the day they used to be cheap and plentiful on the milsurp market, today they are becoming fairly scarce. After being fully phased out, most were sold on the civilian market as military surplus, making popular hunting rifles and collectibles. This was so that the rifles would share common caliber with the Spanish military as well as NATO.įirst produced in the late 1950’s, the FR7 and FR8 was used by the Spanish military and the Guardia Civil (National Police) up through the 1970’s. Modified from 7x57 and 8x57mm Mauser, the FR7 was chambered in 7.62 CETME, while the FR8 was chambered in 7.62 NATO. The most important modification of the FR7 and FR8 was in caliber. What looks to be a gas tube is actually a storage compartment for a cleaning kit. A bayonet mount for modern bayonets was also included. The FR7 and FR8 were very similar to each other, with the FR7 being built from Spanish Model 1893 Mauser actions while the FR8 was produced from 98 Mauser actions. A flash suppressor was installed, which was compatible with the firing of NATO type rifle grenades. The rifles were shortened into a more compact carbine length, new sights were mounted, and caliber was modified. Many of the rifles were taken out of storage, re-arsenalled, and modified to serve as a reserve arm. After the bloody Spanish Civil War and World War II (Spain was neutral), the Spanish military was in possession of tens of thousands of Mauser type bolt action rifles. In order to sure up the numbers, the Spanish military turned to the idea of modernizing their massive arsenals of bolt action rifles. The new rifle was issued by priority, which often meant that less important units such as reserves, militia, police, and other rear echelon units did not have access to the rifle. A complex and expensive rifle, there were not enough CETME rifle’s to arm the entire Spanish military. The CETME helped modernized the Spanish Army, however there was a problem. The Spanish chose the CETME, a select fire semi auto/fully automatic rifle fed from a detachable magazine and chambered in 7.62 CETME. By the 1950’s the Spanish, like most nations, were seeking a new semi-auto battle rifle or fully automatic assault rifle to replace their near obsolete bolt actions.
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